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SelectionSunday

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1. Man, Westbrook looks tiny now. Without his bulk he looks a lot shorter.

2. Rodney certainly is athletic. I didn't know he could shoot 3s, I was just expecting slashes to the basket. I see why those of you who saw him play in high school like him.

3. Johnson looked like a man among boys. Mr. Versatility, no surprise there. You know what you're going to get with DJ, and that's a good thing. I think he's going to be money on his favorite shot, the face-up and elevate from about 10-12 feet.

4. We have 3/5 the makings of a good basketball team dressed in steet clothes. Though my belief is Royce's suspension should be lengthy, that didn't prevent me from daydreaming about adding him to what already is a nice mix of players. Devron, too. Trevor, too, but from the sounds of his court case I'm not expecting him back this season.

5. Way too much hubabaloo about the new court. It's a little lower, it's now got an "M" instead of Goldy at center court. ... big frickin' deal, it's just a basketball court. I don't come to the games to look at the floor.

6. Felt bad for UMD. Talk about overwhelmed. They had more turnovers than a Tim Brewster coaching staff.

7. We're not going to beat everyone by 67 points, but get used to blowouts at The Barn in November and December. We're going to see a lot of garbage time until the Big 10 season starts.
 

SelectionSunday said:
1. Man, Westbrook looks tiny now. Without his bulk he looks a lot shorter.

2. Rodney certainly is athletic. I didn't know he could shoot 3s, I was just expecting slashes to the basket. I see why those of you who saw him play in high school like him.

3. Johnson looked like a man among boys. Mr. Versatility, no surprise there. You know what you're going to get with DJ, and that's a good thing. I think he's going to be money on his favorite shot, the face-up and elevate from about 10-12 feet.

4. We have 3/5 the makings of a good basketball team dressed in steet clothes. Though my belief is Royce's suspension should be lengthy, that didn't prevent me from daydreaming about adding him to what already is a nice mix of players. Devron, too. Trevor, too, but from the sounds of his court case I'm not expecting him back this season.

5. Way too much hubabaloo about the new court. It's a little lower, it's now got an "M" instead of Goldy at center court. ... big frickin' deal, it's just a basketball court. I don't come to the games to look at the floor.

6. Felt bad for UMD. Talk about overwhelmed. They had more turnovers than a Tim Brewster coaching staff.

7. We're not going to beat everyone by 67 points, but get used to blowouts at The Barn in November and December. We're going to see a lot of garbage time until the Big 10 season starts.
Click to expand...

Great post, SS!

I don't know about the new Westbrook - I don't really get why he needed to lose all that weight? I felt like he was a stronger PG when bulkier - and his shot seemed a little off.

DJ = complete player. He's the epitome of what you want a 4 year player to be, just got better and better.

I hardly even noticed the new court too, and was trying to pick out the differences. I guess that's good though, I liked the old court and the new one is nice too.

I felt bad for UMD too - especially when they hung around at 18 points for way too long. I know when I played bball, and we were up by a lot when we were little, we had to make 5 passes or something like that before we could shoot. But this is what I expect in the exhibition games, we had way too many close games a few years back!
 

Anyone that has ever played a game on the Williams floor would know that any change could be very important. It was unlike any other court in existance. The spring you got from it added a step or two to your quickness and getting up off the floor was easier on rebounds and jump shots.
 

I thought Dawson played well for a walk-on. He got 3 rebound, 4 points, made both of his free throws. Nice to see since he may be looked upon to fill in some minutes if anyone up front gets into future foul trouble.
 



SelectionSunday said:
1. Man, Westbrook looks tiny now. Without his bulk he looks a lot shorter.

2. Rodney certainly is athletic. I didn't know he could shoot 3s, I was just expecting slashes to the basket. I see why those of you who saw him play in high school like him.

3. Johnson looked like a man among boys. Mr. Versatility, no surprise there. You know what you're going to get with DJ, and that's a good thing. I think he's going to be money on his favorite shot, the face-up and elevate from about 10-12 feet.

4. We have 3/5 the makings of a good basketball team dressed in steet clothes. Though my belief is Royce's suspension should be lengthy, that didn't prevent me from daydreaming about adding him to what already is a nice mix of players. Devron, too. Trevor, too, but from the sounds of his court case I'm not expecting him back this season.

5. Way too much hubabaloo about the new court. It's a little lower, it's now got an "M" instead of Goldy at center court. ... big frickin' deal, it's just a basketball court. I don't come to the games to look at the floor.

6. Felt bad for UMD. Talk about overwhelmed. They had more turnovers than a Tim Brewster coaching staff.

7. We're not going to beat everyone by 67 points, but get used to blowouts at The Barn in November and December. We're going to see a lot of garbage time until the Big 10 season starts.
Click to expand...

That's about right. Two additions. Cobbs is very decisive about getting the ball moving and getting it in deep. He made some really nice entry passes. He's going to help.

This team will go as far as defensive effort will take them. No offensive star but they can do plenty with the defense and the depth.
 

The guy that I'm really excited about for this year is Devoe Joseph. I think he can have a big year and if he can become a consistent double-figure scorer and outside shooter, we can have a really big year.
 

The one thing I like was Lawrence and DJ. They were who we wanted them to be. Leaders. Taking the ball to the hoop, decisive and taking their shot with confidence. Were two of the top scorers as well.

The scoring and how they did it does not mean too much against UMD, but the fact that our supposed leaders played an exhibition as leaders I thought bodes well for the Gophers.

If Cobbs/Nolen turn out to be able to handle the ball well enough we have some lineups that could be defensive behemoths. Thinking Cobbs/Nolen, RWill, DJ, PC, and Ralph/Colt. Would be a wicked zone.

It appeared PC isn't going to be a great shooter or 1-1 guy, but he could be a wonderful defender and cutter willing to take his open looks and get a finger on every rebound.
 

Anyone else think the CUB logos in white on the corners of the floor looked a bit out of place? It looked like they needed to be painted or something. Also, I thought it was a bit hard to see the gold lines.

Nolen and DJ Swat have to be 2 of the best defenders in the big ten.

I'm hoping Westbrook wont force up as many shots in the lane this year that get blocked.

Someone tell Paul Carter he does not have a jump hook.

I think Hoffarber is an underrated defender, but I think Rodney Wiliams will steal his minutes.

It was nice to see that Rodney Williams can make highlight reel dunks in games too. I can't wait 'til he get the crowd going with a breakaway slam vs a big ten opponent.
 



I'm afraid Hoff will need to get into his 'freshman shooting zone' or he will be moving down the bench.
 

Good points SS.

I agree with MRJ. I really think Joseph is going to have a break out year. Almost Curry like. You heard it here first.

Dawson was way more impressive than I thought he would be. Tubby had no "subs" to put in the game when it got out of hand. They are all starter material. JMO

The floor is wider and longer but not shorter. The side with the press looks exactly the same height but the side where the players sit had the pit (where the player benches use to be) filled in to be level with the rest of the building making it appear lower. I agree it looked lower but Maturi squared me away on that point.

I would add Cobbs to the Nolen, DJ defensive list. Thise three can play some shut down defense.

I think Hoff will be much better this year but will not get as much PT. I think it will be hard to keep Curry off opps I mean Joseph off the floor.
 

You could tell Hoffarber has been working on the rest of his game though. Similar to Howard Pulley he had 2-3 wide open backdoor cuts. Hopefully he can keep defenders honest this year... but I agree, in the end it will all come down to his 3 pt shooting.
 

Hard to gauge the team or the individual players from one game, and a mismatch at that ... but what the heck.

Overall, my greatest concern from last year is still my greatest concern ... perimeter shooting. No three's from last night's starters, and not that many mid-range convertions either.

Pleasant surprises

DJ: Good defense and rebounding was no surprise, but the fact he put down a couple mid-ranged shots was big. I told him, right here after last year, that he should work on that and I heard one of the commentators say he worked a lot on that. I think he looked more comfortable dribbling in traffic too.

RW: "The Dunk" was impressive, but it was the two treys that impressed me. I half jokingly said, several weeks ago, the Rodney may turn out to be the best perimeter shooter among Gopher SFs. Maybe I was right.

JCobbs: He put pressure on the UMD defense that neither Devoe or Al did and hit a mid-range shot himself. Impressive inside passing and aggressive defense.

Devoe: I'll put young Mr Joseph in this category. He did't blow me away with his outside shot, nor with his play making skills, but he was much more aggressive getting his own shot.

Sampson & Iverson: They dominated UMD because of their height. What impressed was how well they caught the ball in traffic. Nice hands guys.

Somewhat disappointed

Carter: Don't see the improvement in his shot yet. Basically the same player, pluses and minuses, from last year.

The Hoff: Still not getting that perimeter shot to fall. Like Carter, still the same player as last year.


In the Middle

Westbrook: Yes, he led the team in scoring, but most were really gifts from UMD turnovers.

Nolen: Al played 22 minutes and I hardly noticed him on the floor at all. Missed his only two shots. I wonder if he, like DJ, heeded my advise and worked his mid-range game?
 



I pretty much agree with everything said so far. I was really impressed with Rodney. I remember thinking in Pulley that he looked like he never wanted the ball in the half-court offense and he kinda just stood out by the 3 point line. It was good to see him aggressive, making shots, playing within himself, and playing great d.

DJ was awesome in every aspect. His shot looked much better too. A lot smoother than last year.

Westbrook was frustrating in the beginning forcing shots but second half he looked much better. Obviously he didn't have to do a whole lot for a lot of them, but overall he looked much better. The only players who didn't really look very good were Carter and Nolen. Good to see a variety of moves from the big men and Sampson actually got inside and wanted the ball. I was glad to see Dawson get in there at the end and do well.

The only thing I found somewhat alarming was our 3 point defense in the second half. That killed us last year. I'm still not sure how we leave so many wide-open 3s. And that's adding to the fact that we aren't the greatest at shooting 3s either. I guess we'll be better than last year though.

I'm curious to hear what people think...between Hoff, Westbrook, and Joseph, what's the order from best to worst 3 point shooting %?
 

3pt shooting % this year????

Best Joseph
Mid Hoff
Last Westbrook

Joseph will lead the team in scoring.

But then again last year I predicted Bostic would lead the team in scoring, so you shouldn't look for my website for any gambling tips.
 

SelectionSunday said:
2. Rodney certainly is athletic. I didn't know he could shoot 3s, I was just expecting slashes to the basket. I see why those of you who saw him play in high school like him.
Click to expand...

Rodney's shot already looks 100% better than it did in h.s. He's shooting it much higher off his forehead than below his chin. And he's much more consistent on the release at the top of his jump. I think he'll probably be very inconsistent this year but I thought it was very encouraging that they reworked it and it seems to be going well so far.

I think most are getting ahead of themselves on what he'll be able to contribute this year but I was pretty amazed how much better his shot looks already. Shows that he's taking coaching and working really hard. He's going to have a great Gopher career but I hope people give him time. Blake is still the better overall player right now.
 

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